July/August 1978 - American Handgunner

had to compensate for it. This was called"machine-gunning," and it meant simplyflooding the target with sloppily controlledfire. Usually it did not work, but itcould, and this had to be avoided. So wedid this-we penalized double for a completemiss. On the standard I.P.S.C.target, for example, a major caliber usuallyscores 5,4,2. Usually two shots pertarget are indicated. Two center hits willthus get you ten points. But if you throwtwo hysterical quickies at that paperyou'd better be lucky, for you may wellwind up with minus twenty. (Maximumvalue of one shot is five. Double for acomplete miss is minus ten. Minus tentwice is minus twenty.) If you get a centerhit, and a miss, you come up with minusfive. Sooner is still better, but only $YOU hit.So the Comstock Count is now acceptedas "total numerical score, minusdouble the maximum possible value of ahit for each miss, divided by time."THE RIGHT TO BEAR-ARMS -7The right to bear arms has longpeen o privilege of all Americans.Weor this solid Brass Buckle Proud1$how where you stand on gun controlCast on the lost wax process whoch goves ~t almost unbehevable detadMoney back guarantee ''Frea Entwprlse EnterprlnsP.0. BOX 1613West Wnroe, b. 712011 ..'l'here are drawbacks. They by nomeans invalidate the system but theymust be anticipated.(1) The Comstock Count requires thateach shooter be timed individuallv foreacy string. If you've got a line of twentyshooters you need twenty stopwatches,plus people who use them uniformly.(2) The Comstock Count calls urgentlyfor hand calculators. You may know of alot of local friendly scorekeepers who canhandle a bushel basket full of long divisioneasily, quickly, and accurately, but Idon't. On the other hand, pocket calculatorsare pretty common now.(3) Comstock scores, in the raw state,cannot be integrated with other types ofscores. If you have three stages in amatch for instance, you should come upwith scores that equalize, or very nearlyequalize, the shooters' performance on allthree. If a man logs 455 x 500 on StageOne, 87 x 100 on Stage Two, and C 12.75on Stage Three, you can either (a) rankhim on each by placement (10 for first, 7for second, 5 for third, etcetera) or youcan (b) convert all three scores to a uniformbase-say 100 points.To do this with a Comstock score youneed to establish a "par" time, which isnecessarily arbitrary but need not beabandoned for that. Take "El Presidente9'-universallypracticed. You firetwelve shots, maximum value five pointseach. Experience has established par atten seconds. If you plant all twelve in thex-ring you score (5 x 12) sixty points. Ifyou hit par on the nose, at ten seconds,you get a raw score of six (6). To convert apar performance to a 100 base, therefore,you simply multiply the raw score (6) by afigure that will get 100 points. Thus 16213becomes the conversion factor by whichAMERICAN HANDGUNNER JULYIAUGUST 1978 1.1